Will KT CEO stay on for another term?

By Baek Byung-yeul

KT will complete its review of its CEO Ku Hyeon-mo, who expressed his intention to stay on for another term, and announce the results as early as this week, according to industry sources and a company official, Monday.

A company spokesman said the mobile carrier's CEO candidate review committee is currently assessing whether Ku is eligible for a second term. His current three-year term will end in March 2023.

“According to the company's articles of association, if the current CEO declares wishes to stay for a second term, the company launches its CEO candidate review committee. If the review committee decides the current CEO is suitable for another term and wins an approval from the shareholders' meeting in March next year, the current CEO will be able to stay in his position for the next three years,” the spokesman said, adding it's not decided when the review process will conclude.

Ku was appointed in 2019 to lead the nation's top mobile carrier, which was approved by its board in March 2020. The CEO was the company's first in-house figure to be appointed CEO since 2008, as KT had been recruiting outside figures to the post.

The industry widely expects Ku to extend his term for another three years, as he has contributed to transforming the mobile carrier into a digital platform company active in various areas such as cloud computing and digital media.

KT displayed solid performance under Ku's leadership. Also, the company's union is friendly to the current CEO. Recently its union, which includes more than 16,000 members or 99 percent of the total employees, announced support for Ku's second term.

However, the key is whether Ku can draw support from the National Pension Service (NPS), the largest shareholder of KT with a 10.35 percent stake, at the shareholders meeting in March.

NPS Chairman Kim Tae-hyun made a comment on Dec. 8 referring to companies without controlling shareholders such as KT, POSCO and financial companies. “Companies with multiple ownership are at issue over internal discrimination and allowing outside personnel, such as priority screening of incumbent directors or chairmen, because there are no clear criteria to achieve social consensus," he said.

His remarks might be interpreted as NPS putting the brakes on KT's priority screening of the incumbent CEO at the shareholders meeting.

In addition, KT doesn't have a firm ownership structure unlike other major conglomerates and cannot be free from the influence of the political landscape.